Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest A Reconstructive Critical Edition of the Text of the First Production, St. James's Theatre, London, 1895

This unique volume reconstructs the original 1895 production of Wilde's timeless classic. Based upon a new, reconstructive method for the study of theatrical performance that aims to set the play securely in its historical and cultural moment, the edition offers a wealth of detail about the staging and acting and numerous first production and early revival photographs. The reconstructed text itself, differing in important ways from the 1899 first edition, recaptures the essential comic vitality of the play.